ESA GNC Conference Papers Repository

At the previous ESA GNC conference Faint Star was announced: a robust camera chip with integrated image processing for star tracker applications, radiation-hardened by means of the DARE logic cell and RAM libraries and the UMC 180 nm CMOS process. The two years following were spent on detailed design and on an exhaustive pixel optimisation campaign. This resulted in the Summer of 2016 in the prototype silicon. At the time of writing this abstract most of the functional validation has been done. Preliminary electro-optical and radiation test results are available and look very promising. These will be presented, as well as an update of the complete test campaign. In a second phase of the contract, after the prototype's testing, a design revision will be made, adding some more functionality to the chip as well as implementing the best-tested pixel. This phase 2 product chip will be subject to a full evaluation campaign through 2018, after which it will be made commercially available to European star tracker manufacturers.